66 THE CHACMA. . 
animal detained in captivity, but its delicate natural instincts are sometimes enlisted in 
the service of its master. It displays great ability in discovering the various roots and 
tubers on which it feeds, and which can also be used as food for man; and in digging 
like Caliban, with his long nails, pignuts. 
A more important service is often rendered by this animal than even the procuration 
of food; and that is, the hunting for, and almost unfailing discovery of water. 
In the desert life, water loses its character of a luxury, and becomes a dread necessity ; 
its partial deficiency giving birth to fearful sufferings, while its total deprivation, even for 
a day or two, causes inevitable death. The fiery sun of the tropical regions, and the 
arid, scorching atmosphere, absorb every particle of moisture from the body, and cause a 
constant desire to supply the unwonted waste with fresh material, exactly where such a 
supply is least attainable. 
Among these climates, the want of a proper supply of water is soon felt, the longing 
tor the cool element becomes a raging madness; the scorched and hardened lips refuse 
their office, and the tongue rattles uselessly in the mouth, as if both tongue and palate 
were cut out of dried wood. 
The value of any means by which such sufferings can be alleviated is incalculable ; 
and the animal of which we are speaking, is possessed of this priceless faculty. 
When the water begins to run short, and the known fountains have failed, as is too 
often the sad hap of these desert wells, fortunate is the man who owns a tame Chacma, or 
“ Babian,” as it is called. The animal is first deprived of water for a whole day, until it 
is furious with thirst, which is increased by giving it salt provisions, or putting salt into 
its mouth. This apparent cruelty is, however, an act of true mercy, as on the Chacma 
may depend the existence of itself and the whole party. 
A long rope is now tied to thé baboon’s collar, and it is suffered to run about where- 
ever it chooses, the rope being merely used as a means to prevent the animal from getting 
out of sight. The baboon now assumes the leadership of the band, and becomes the most 
important personage of the party. 
First it runs forward a little, then stops ; gets on its hind feet, and sniffs up the air, 
especially taking notice of the wind and its direction. It will then, perhaps, change the 
direction of its course; and after running for some distance take another observation 
Presently it will spy out a blade of grass, or similar object, pluck it up, turn it on all 
sides, smell it, and then go forward again. And thus the animal proceeds until it leads 
the party to water; guided by some mysterious instinct which appears to be totally 
independent of reasoning, and which loses its powers in proportion as reason gains 
dominion. 
The curious employment of the animal for the discovery of water, is mentioned by 
Captain Drayson, R.A., in his interesting work, “Sporting Scenes among the Kaflirs of 
South Africa.” In the course of the same work he gives many life-like illustrations of 
baboon habits, whether wild or tame. 
Of the daily life of the baboons, the following affords a graphic and amusing 
description. 
“During the shooting trip with the Boers, I awoke before daybreak, and as I felt very 
cold and not inclined to sleep, I got up, and taking my gun, walked to a little ravine, out 
of which a clear, murmuring stream flashed in the moonlight, and ran close past our out- 
span. A little distance up this kloof, the fog was dense and thick; the blue and pink 
streaks of the morning light were beginning to illuminate the peaks of the Draakensberg, 
but all immediately around us still acknowledged the supremacy of the pale moonlight. 
I wanted to see the sun rise in this lonely region, and watch the changing effects which 
its arrival would produce on the mountains and plains around. 
“Suddenly I heard a hoarse cough, and on turning, saw indistinctly in the fog a queer 
little old man standing near, and looking at me. I instinctively cocked my gun, as the 
idea of bushmen and poisoned arrows flashed across my mind. The old man instantly 
dropped on his hands ; giving another hoarse cough, that evidently told a tale of consump- 
tive lungs; he snatched up something beside him, which seemed to leap on his shoulders, 
and then he scampered off up the ravine on all-fours. Before half this performance was 
